Injury among women 2022–23

The type of injury and body part injured are described only for injury hospitalisations and ED presentations. Reliable nature of injury information is not available for deaths data. Please see Technical notes for more information.

Fracture is the most common type of injury for all age groups, especially women aged 65 years and over

Fractures were the most common type of injury hospitalisation across all age groups and was the leading overall type of injury for emergency department (ED) presentation among women in 2022–23. Over two-fifths (93,897 cases 43%) of injury hospitalisations among women were for fractures (Table 1) and a quarter (131,729 cases or 25%) of ED presentations were for fractures (Table 2).

There was some variation between the most common types of injury women were hospitalised for and the types of injury women presented to ED for (Tables 1 and 2). More women presented to ED for a soft-tissue injury (77,745 cases or 14%) compared to women hospitalised for a soft-tissue injury (15,866 cases or 7%). 

Sources: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.

Notes:

1. Only includes records where patient was aged 19 and over and patient’s sex recorded as female.
2. Denominator for calculating proportions is the total number of injury hospitalisations for women.
3. Type of injury is derived from the principal diagnosis for hospitalisation

Sources: AIHW National Non-admitted Patient Emergency Department Care (NNAPEDC) Database.

Notes:

1. Only includes records where patient was aged 19 and over and patient’s sex recorded as female.
2. Denominator for calculating proportions is the total number of ED presentations for women.
3. Type of injury is derived from the principal diagnosis for presentation.
   
   

Women aged 65 years and over were most likely to be hospitalised and present to ED for fractures compared to other age groups (Figure 4). Women aged 65 years and over had a hospitalisation rate of 2,353.0 per 100,000 for fractures, being almost 4 times higher than the rate for women aged 40 to 64 years who had the second highest rate for fracture hospitalisations of 616.0 per 100,000 population. Women aged 65 years and over also had a rate of 2,336.9 per 100,000 for fracture ED presentations which was double the rate for women aged 40 to 64 years, who had the second highest rate of 1,130.9 per 100,000 population. This is expected given the prevalence of falls among women aged 65 years and over, and fractures of the femur being among the most common types of injuries in this age group.

Fracture to the hip or lower limb was the most common injury women were hospitalised for

Women were most likely to be hospitalised for a fracture to the hip and lower limb. Hospitalisations for an open wound were most commonly for the head and neck (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Number and age-standardised rate (per 100,000) of injury hospitalisations and ED presentations among women by body part injured and most common types of injuries, Australia, 2022–23

Sources: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database, AIHW National Non-admitted Patient Emergency Department Care Database, and ABS National, state and territory population.

Notes:

1. Only includes records where patient was aged 19 and over and patient’s sex recorded as female.
2. Type of injury is derived from the principal diagnosis.
3. Body part injured is derived from the principal diagnosis.
4. Injuries not described in terms of body location are excluded from display.
5. Counts under 5 are excluded from display.
6. Rates where underlying numerator count is under 20 are excluded from display.

Most hospitalisations are for injuries to the hip and lower limb and most ED presentations are for wrist and hand injuries

The 3 most common body parts injured in hospitalisations among women in 2022–23 were:

The 3 most common body parts injured in ED presentations for women in 2022–23 were:

The hip and lower limb (excluding ankle and foot) was the most common site of injury resulting in hospitalisation for women aged 65 years and over (31,961 hospitalisations, 1,334.5 per 100,000 population) and women aged 40 to 64 years (12,865 hospitalisations, 314.0 per 100,000 population). Women aged 25 to 39 were most likely to be hospitalised for an injury to their head or neck (6,383 hospitalisations, 221.9 per 100,000 population) (Figure 4).

Age impacts whether a woman is more likely to be hospitalised or present to ED for different injury types

Women aged 65 and over had the highest rate of injury hospitalisation for 9 out of 16 the types of injury and in contrast, women aged 19 to 24 had the highest injury ED presentation rates for 10 out of the 16 types of injury (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Number and crude rate (per 100,000) of injury hospitalisations and ED presentations among women by type of injury and age group, Australia, 2022–23

Sources: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database, AIHW National Non-admitted Patient Emergency Department Care Database, and ABS National, state and territory population.

Notes:

1. Only includes records where patient was aged 19 and over and patient’s sex recorded as female.
2. Rates are crude per 100,000 population
3. Counts under 5 are excluded from display.
4. Rates where underlying numerator count is 10 or less are excluded from display.
5. Type of injury is derived from principal diagnosis.